Incumbents hit hard in Florida primary

Florida Rep. John Mica, the powerful House committee chairman, notched a decisive win over fellow GOP Rep. Sandy Adams on Tuesday evening in the latest primary clash pitting tea party and establishment forces.

Mica, a 10-term veteran who chairs the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, won by a commanding 61 percent to 39 percent over Adams, a freshman congresswoman who sought to harness the energy of conservative activists in her underdog bid.

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But the upset of the night appeared to take place in another Central Florida district, where GOP Rep. Cliff Stearns, a 12-term congressman who sits on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, trailed veterinarian Ted Yoho by about 800 votes with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

The two races were fought on the last big primary night of the election year, with House and Senate battles taking place across four states. Elsewhere, Minnesota Democrats competed for the right to take on Rep. Chip Cravaack, one of the GOP’s most vulnerable freshmen incumbents. And in Connecticut, both parties selected nominees in hard-fought races for a vacant seat.

Mica’s win puts a notch in the belt of establishment forces who found themselves on the losing end of three recent high-profile Senate primaries.

Adams, who was elected as part of the tea party-inspired 2010 GOP wave — and who had endorsements from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Condoleezza Rice — cast herself as the grass-roots conservative favorite while ripping Mica as a past-his-prime creature of Washington. She also took aim at Mica’s long history of securing federal earmarks and promised to usher in a new era of congressional belt-tightening.

But Mica fought back, portraying Adams as an unaccomplished backbencher and insisting that his seniority made him a force in the House. He also highlighted the steps he had taken to curb federal spending while saying Adams voted in support of expensive projects during her tenure in the state House.

His position atop the transportation committee proved to be a boon to Mica, allowing him to collect donations from many of the industry groups who depend on the House panel. Through the end of last month, Mica outspent the badly underfunded Adams 3-to-1.

Adams becomes the first of the historic, 87-member House GOP freshman class to lose renomination this primary season. With her loss — and if Stearns is defeated — 12 House members will have been defeated for renomination this year.

Stearns, who had never won reelection with less than 59 percent, had been the favorite to win his primary, far outspending Yoho and several other GOP challengers.